Close to the veins of leaves, dyed in many colors,

I see that life itself is nothing but wind.

And today again, within that wind,

I carry a handful of longing with me.

Poet Ms. Lee Young Sun is the president of the Damjaengi Literary Association

Hailing from the Korea, the Land of Morning Calm, Poet Ms. Lee Young Sun is the president of the Damjaengi Literary Association and an active member of the Korean Writers’ Association, the Modern Poets’ Association of Korea, the Korea Centre of International PEN, the Eunpyeong Literary Association, and the Quarterly Literature Writers’ Association. She also serves as an Advisory Member of War Literature, Senior Advisor to Literary Spring and Autumn, and Advisor to the Poetry Village. She has published six poetry collections, including Becoming a Dandelion Seed, and several essay collections such as Lee Young Sun Essays, The Stick of Sensibility, and The Garden of Dawon.

Life Is the Wind

In the heaving patterns of life,

even dreams and love turn out to be wind.

Longing hearts and aching souls—

I wish they too could be tinted

with the gentle hues of the breeze.

Even the whispers that stirred my heart,

once they cross the mountains,

were but winds pushing at my back.

The yearning that crossed the sunset,

when I look back, was all wind, too.

Close to the veins of leaves, dyed in many colors,

I see that life itself is nothing but wind.

And today again, within that wind,

I carry a handful of longing with me.

***

사는 게 바람이다

헐떡거린 생의 무늬에서

꿈도 사랑도 다 바람이더라

그리워하고 아픈 마음도

고운 바람으로 물들고 싶은데

가슴 뭉클한 속삭임도 산을 넘으면

등뒤를 밀던 바람이고

해 질녘 석양을 건너던 그리움도

돌아보면 다 바람이더라

색색으로 물든 그 잎맥 가까이

사는 게 온통 바람이더라

오늘도 그 바람 속에

또다시 그리움 한줌 품고 간다.

__________________ 

Read: Theory of Love – Poetry from Korea